LI commuters: East Side Access project means longer commute

Long Island commuters expressed outrage Wednesday night over how the MTA’s $11.2 billion East Side Access megaproject could result in longer travel times for them.

The overwhelming majority of the 257 registered speakers at a virtual public meeting held by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority — the LIRR’s parent organization — came from the Port Washington area, and decried what they said was a disproportionately negative impact on their line.

Although the LIRR plans to increase the number of trains running on the Port Washington Branch, they would alternate between Penn Station and the railroad’s forthcoming second Manhattan terminal, Grand Central Madison. That means there would be fewer trains to and from Penn than there are now, and far fewer than before the railroad reduced service at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Express trains on the line would make several new stops in Queens under the proposal, adding up to eight minutes of travel time. LIRR officials say the average trip increase is up to three minutes in the morning and up to two minutes in the evening.

Several speakers said they had been looking forward to the benefits of East Side Access, which is scheduled for completion in December. And then the railroad released its service plan last month.

“I can’t ... [overstate] the disappointment when I saw the actual timetables,” said Port Washington commuter Scott Lin, who works on Manhattan’s East Side. “It did make me wonder … if the MTA engaged any commuters from the Port Washington line before they came up with that timetable, because it universally, universally is a disappointment.”

East Side Access aims to shave up to 40 minutes in commuting time for people working on Manhattan's East Side, and also provide much-needed redundancy when there are problems with service into or out of Penn Station.

“The MTA’s multibillion-dollar investment in Grand Central Madison will increase service by 40%, provide hundreds of thousands of Long Island commuters with more service options, and improve both service reliability and on-time performance,” MTA spokesman Sean Butler said in statement.

But several commuters scoffed at the promises of a better commute. Port Washington commuter Mark Bunim said that before the pandemic, he could take five different trains to Manhattan between 7:45 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. Under the LIRR’s proposal, he’ll have just two trains to pick from — one to Penn and another to Grand Central.

“How anybody can say with a straight face that this is an increase in service is beyond me,” Bunim said.

MTA officials have said they’ve been limited in how much service they can add on the Port Washington line because of the Town of North Hempstead’s refusal to allow the railroad to expand its track capacity there. Town officials have said they are willing to reconsider the town’s previous opposition to the plan.

Speakers’ gripes over the plan weren’t limited to Port Washington. Others complained about the elimination of most direct service between Long Island and Brooklyn, and of the lack of service increases in parts of Suffolk that rely on diesel trains because tracks are not electrified.

At a news conference Thursday, LIRR interim president Catherine Rinaldi said the negative remarks shared by riders at Wednesday's hearing were expected and don't reflect most commuters' sentiment toward the proposed schedules.

"The people who are happy about the service are not necessarily the ones who are going to stay on the phone for three hours [to speak at the meeting]," said Rinaldi, who assured the public that railroad officials would consider all feedback. "That's why we have these sessions. You don't have these sessions for people to tell you how wonderful you are."

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.